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physics

Latest Articles

Joe Polchinsky at the Kavli Institute
Thinking Places

Joe Polchinski’s Restless Pursuit of Quantum Gravity

By Natalie Wolchover +2 authors
Olena Shmahalo
Lucy Reading-Ikkanda
August 7, 2017
Comment
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The pot-stirring string theorist and quantum gravity theorist never sits still for long.

Illustration: window showing dark matter map
cosmology

Scientists Unveil New Inventory of Universe’s Dark Contents

By Natalie Wolchover
August 3, 2017
Comment
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The first major results from the Dark Energy Survey signal the start of a new era of cosmology.

planetary science

What Made the Moon? New Ideas Try to Rescue a Troubled Theory

By Rebecca Boyle
August 2, 2017
Comment
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Textbooks say that the moon was formed after a Mars-size mass smashed the young Earth. But new evidence has cast doubt on that story, leaving researchers to dream up new ways to get a giant rock into orbit.

Abstractions blog

Cookie-Cutter Supernovas Might Come in Different Flavors

By Katia Moskvitch
July 31, 2017
Comment
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Astronomers thought that all Type Ia supernovas shine with the same brightness, making them incredibly useful cosmic yardsticks. But uncertainty over what causes these explosions has led researchers to reconsider their assumptions.

Andrea Ghez in Hawaii
Q&A

Black-Hole Hunter Takes Aim at Einstein

By Joshua Sokol
July 27, 2017
Comment
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The astrophysicist Andrea Ghez spent two decades proving that a supermassive black hole anchors the center of the Milky Way galaxy. Her new plan? Test what happens when things get too close.

origins of life

First Support for a Physics Theory of Life

By Natalie Wolchover
July 26, 2017
Comment
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Take chemistry, add energy, get life. The first tests of Jeremy England’s provocative origin-of-life hypothesis are in, and they appear to show how order can arise from nothing.

Eva Silverstein at Stanford University
Thinking Places

Eva Silverstein’s Spirals and Strings

By Natalie Wolchover +2 authors
Olena Shmahalo
Lucy Reading-Ikkanda
July 17, 2017
Comment
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Daily bike rides, serendipitous interactions and long periods of solo thinking inspire this string cosmologist.

Supernova 1987A remnants
astrophysics

Lucky Break Leads to Controversial Supernova Discovery

By Katia Moskvitch
July 5, 2017
Comment
Read Later

Supernova hunters were able to train their telescopes on a recent eruption just hours after it exploded. What they found only adds to the growing list of questions surrounding these cosmic blasts.

LIGO Hanford and Livingston
gravitational waves

Strange Noise in Gravitational-Wave Data Sparks Debate

By Mark Kim-Mulgrew
June 30, 2017
Comment
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The team that discovered gravitational waves put their data online. Now an independent group of researchers claims that they’ve found what might be a serious problem.


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